Last or other shoe-form.



PATENTED OCT. 25v, 1904.

E. J. PRINDLE.

LAST OR OTHER SHOE FORM.

APPLIOATIQN FILED APR. 27, 1903.

I PATENTED OCT. 25, 1904. E. J. PRINDLE.

LAST OR OTHER SHOE FORM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, 1903.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

NO MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented October 25, 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

LAST OR OTHER SHOE-FORM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 773,521, dated October 25, 1904.

Application filed .pri127,1903. Serial No. 154,591. (No model.)

,L in 1072 0711, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN J. PRINDLE, of \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lasts or other Shoe-Forms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a last embodying my invention, showing the anvil-heel attached to the fore part, the last being collapsed. Fig. 2 is an end View of the fore part having the fore-part hinge-plate of the anvil-heel attached thereto. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the construction illustrated in Fig. 1, the last being extended. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a last embodying my invention and having the filler-heel attached to the fore part, the last being extended. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the filler-heel fore-part hinge-plate, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the hinge-plate of the filler-heel hinge.

The object of my invention has been to providealast which shall have, among others,any or all of the following advantages: that of having a connection between the fore and heel parts that can be detached while in the shoe, of having such connection so constructed that it can be detached while in the shoe and without the use of hand-tools or hand manipulation, of having a single fore part upon which the shoe can be built, and of having both an anvil-heel part and a filler-heel part, the construction being such that at will either heel part can be placed in or removed from the shoe and attached to the fore part without removing such fore part from the shoe; and to such ends my invention consists in the last hereinafter specified.

In carrying my invention into practice I provide a fore part A, an anvil-heel part B, a filler-heel part 0, and suitable means of any desired construction for attaching either heel part to the fore part. The anvil-heel part, as chosen for illustration, consists of a heelsection I), in which is seated a jack-pin socket 7), such socket consisting of a cylindrical portion If, that is preferably enlarged at its lower end where it rests upon the anvil-heel seat D. Parallel flanges 72 project forward from the socket I), such flanges forming between them a pocket in which are received two adjacent plates E and F, projecting forward. The flanges b unite above the plates E and F and merge into a rib b, which extends upward along the forward edge of the cylindrical section 5'. A very strong support for the anvilheel seat is thus formed and all strain is taken off of the wood in the heeling operation. The platesE and F are fastened between the flanges, as by rivets I2 and a rivet or pin G passes through the heel part and through the flanges b and plates E and F, thus securing such parts together. The said parts are preferably put into the heel part by being passed upward through a slot in its bottom, and the portion of such slot not covered by the anvil-heel plate D is filled, preferably, with a block of wood H. The fore-part hinge-plate I preferably extends transversely to the last and is provided at its lower edge with ears i, that receive between them the plates E and F and that are pivoted to such plates by a pintle passing through said ears and plates. The plate I is preferably locked when in its forward or extended position, as by a locking-piece K, which is provided with an ear at its rear end, that is pivoted to the plate E and is received in a'recess in the plate F. Such locking-piece preferably has a T-shaped head, and the plate I is provid ed with a slot 2', whose lower portion is as wide as the T-shaped head of the lockingpiece and whose upper portion is of less width, preferably only the width of the shank of the locking-piece, so that the locking-piece can be swung upward through the slot until its head has passed beyond the narrow part of the slot, when the plate I will be locked from movement away from the plates E and F beyond the limit permitted by the head of the locking-piece. If desired, movement of the plate I toward the plates E and F can be prevented by providing the locking-piece with shoulders back of the head, which shoulders shall engage the face of the plate I adjacent the heel part. In order to cause the lockingpiece K to normally stand in locking position, I provide a spring L, which is preferably a coil-spring whose coil is received in a recess in the plate F and is held therein by the adjacent wall in the heel part. Such spring has one end bearing against the plate F and its opposite end bearing against the locking-piece.

In order to attach the plate I to the fore part, I have chosen the following means for illustration, although any other suitable means can be used within the scope of my invention: Screws M are screwed into the rear face of the fore part, such face being preferably plain, and said screws are left projecting from said face sufiiciently to receive beneath their heads the plate I. plate with the upper screw, a keyhole-slot 7: is provided, and said plate can be engaged with said screw by passing the larger portion of said slot over the head of the screw and draw ing the smaller portion of the slot under the screw-head and about the screw-shank. In the lower portion of the plate two semicircular notches 2' are provided for the reception of the shanks of the screws, and downwardlyfiaring entrances to such notches are provided, so that the plate may easily find its way over the screws and carry the screws home to the notches. I preferably make the under surface of the heads of the screws conical in or der that there may be a wedging action as the plate goes home under the screw-heads, such action forcing the plate against the rear face of the fore part. It is obvious that the plate can be beveled around the notches instead of beveling the screws, or both can be beveled and the same result produced as by the beveled-headed screws. In order to lock the plate upon the screws, a spring-bolt N, preferably mounted in a socket, is held in a seat in the fore part, so that such bolt is in line with the lower wall of the slot 6 or with a semicircular notch formed in such wall, and the bolt by entering such notch or projecting over such wall prevents the withdrawal of the plate from the screws.

In using the last the severest strains are in a direction from the top of the last toward the screws, and no strains of importance are therefore put upon the bolt and great strength of the bolt is not necessary. The bolt N can, in fact, be omitted, if desired, and the friction between such plate and the fore part and between such plate and the screws be depended upon to keep the plate in engagement with the screws. The wall of the slot 2'" which is engaged by the bolt is preferably beveled in a rearward direction, so that the bolt may ride up upon it and more easily find its seat. Obviously the bolt might be beveled instead of the wall.

In order to permit the head of the lockingpiece to pass behind the plate I, a recess a is formed in the rear face of the fore part, and I prefer to prevent the collapse of the last by permitting the head of the locking-piece to To enable engagement of the bear upon the bottom of said recess when the last is locked. The filler-heel C ispreferably provided either with a mere hole in the wood for the reception of the jack-pin or with a simple thimble 0 for such purpose. As it is desired to make such heel part as light and cheap as possible, no heel-plate need be provided. The hinge for such filler part consists of a plate 0, having two eyes 0 formed on its lower edge and two similar eyes formed on-its upper edge, such plate being attached to the forward face of the filler part, as by screws P. Between the upper eyes 0 a locking-piece Q, is pivoted by an ordinary pintle, such locking-piece having substantially the same form as the locking-piece K of the anvilheel part. Either or both the locking-pieces K and Q, can be provided with a notch 9, Fig. 6, opposite the spring-bolt N when the locking-piece is in unlocked position, and a clip 9 can be secured upon the locking-piece, so that it can be slid over the notch (1 when it is desired that the locking-piece shall push back the bolt N upon the collapse of the last or can be slid back from over said notch when it is desired to collapse the last without operating the bolt N, and thus without detaching the heel part from the fore part. The clip 9 consists simply of a plate of sheet metal having ears formed thereon, such ears embracing the locking-piece and preferably holding on to such locking-piece with some friction, so that the plate will stay in the desired position. The said locking-piece is moved by a coilspring R, which is seated in a recess in the heel part, saidspring being confined in its recess by the plate O. The said plate is provided with a slot 0 beneath the locking-piece, through which one end of the spring may project to reach the locking-piece. The forepart hinge-plate S for the filler part C is substantially the same as the hinge-plate I, except thatithas an eye .9 at its lower end, which is adapted to receive a pintle held in the lower eyes 0 0 of the plate 0. If desired, cooperating shoulders may be formed upon the respective hinge-plates of the two heel parts to prevent the plates from swinging apart beyond their normal limits without depending solely upon the locking-pieces for this purpose.

In the operation of my invention the anvilheel part is attached to the fore part, and the shoe is constructed upon the last thus formed until the heeling operation has been completed. The last having the shoe upon it is then placed upon a jack or post having a pin to enter the jack-pin socket, and preferably by means of a treadle a finger is thrust into the shoe to strike the locking-piece K and fold it down against the plates E and F. While said locking-piece is in such position the last is then collapsed and the finger withdrawn by freeing the treadle. The locking-piece is of such length and its center of motion so located IIS that when it has swung against the plates E and Fits head is as near to the center of motion of the hinge of the last as is some portion of the area of the end of the spring-bolt N, so that when the last is collapsed the said head of the locking-piece will, as shown in Fig. 1, strike against the end of the springbolt and force such bolt out of engagement with the plate I, the said head for this purpose passing into the slot 2 in the plate I. As the spring-bolt is now disengaged, it is obvious that the shoe together with the fore part can be raised away from the heel part, since such motion merely carries the screws M out of their notches in the plate I. This operation removes the heel part from the shoe and leaves the fore part entirely undisturbed in its position in the shoe. The fillerheel part having its locking-piece thrown down against the plate 0 and having its hinge collapsed is then placed upon the jack-pin, and the shoe having in it the fore part is placed over the filler-heel part, and the screws M on the fore part are caused to engage the notches in the plate S. The last is then extended by merely raising the fore part while the heel part is held by the jack-pin, when the locking-piece Q is raised by its spring, and the spring-bolt N is thus freed. Such boltis then forced forward by its spring and engages the wall of the slot in the plate S and locks such plate upon the fore part. I preferably make the hinges of the anvil-heel and filler-heel parts stilfer than the strength of the springs moving the locking pieces, so that such springs cannot open the'hinges, this construction facilitating the attachment of the heel parts to the last. I preferably provide shoulders on the locking-pieces, against which the fore-part hinge-plates may bear to prevent said locking pieces from passing farther through their slots in the fore-part hingeplates than the planes of the forward surfaces of said plates when the last is collapsed. Such shoulders may take the form of the shoulder Zr on the locking-piece K or such other form as may be found convenient.

My last as above constructed has, among others, the following advantages: The shoe can be constructed upon the last to and through the heeling operation; the anvil-heel part can then be removed from the shoe by such a motion that all strain upon the shoe is obviated, and such removal can be effected without the manipulation by the hands of any part or tool except the shoe itself; the filler-heel can then be placed in the shoe and attached to the fore part and the last extended and locked with the same ease. The manufacturer thus has the advantage of the strong but comparativel y expensive and necessarily heavy anvilheel part through the operations of lasting, leveling, and heeling where strength is required, and is then enabled to replace such heel part by the cheap and light filler-heel part, which heel part has ample strength for all the remaining operations in the manufacture of the shoe. \Vhile securing these advantages the fore part upon which the shoe has been built has not been disturbed in any manner. There is great advantage in such use of the fore part, as it is impossible to remove a fore part from a shoe which has been built upon the same and replace either that fore part or any other fore part with the same perfection of lit in the shoe as are secured by building the shoe upon the original fore part. The use of the costly and heavy heel parts is thus restricted to a small fraction of the entire amount of time consumed in the manufacture of the shoe, and the greater part of such manufacture is performed upon the light cheap filler-heel parts.

It is obvious that many changes can be made in the above-illustrated construction which will be within the scope of my invention. For instance, the locking-pieces K and Q can be omitted, the hinge centers being placed high enough to prevent collapsing of the last. A projection can be formed on the heel part to strike against the bolt N when the last is collapsed, so that such bolt will be released upon the collapse of the last, as does the locking-piece in the illustrated construction of last. The last thus constructed would permit of the heel part being detachable from the fore part by the simple collapse of the last and without use of tools of any sort.

I desire it to be understood that the aboveillustrated constructions are adapted for use with shoe-fillers, display-forms, followers, and all other kinds of shoe-forms as well as lasts.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a shoe-making device, the combination of a fore part, an anvil-heel part, and a filler-heel part, andmeans for detachably connecting said fore part with either of said heel parts.

2. In a shoe-making device, the combination of a fore part, an anvil-heel part having a detachable connection with said fore part, and a filler-heel part adapted to be substituted for said anvil-heel part.

3. In a shoe-making device, the combination of a fore part and two heel parts, one of said heel parts being of greater strength than the other heel part, said heel part of greater strength being detachably connected to said fore part, and said heel part of lesser strength having a hinged connection so constructed that it may be detachably attached to-said fore part.

I. In a shoe-making device, the combination of a fore part, an anvil-heel part having a detachable hinge connection with said fore part, and a filler-heel part adapted to be substituted for said anvil-heel part.

5. Ashoe-making device, comprising afore part and two heel parts, one of said heel parts being of greater strength than the other heel part, and means for detachably connecting said fore part with either of said heel parts.

6. A divided last, comprising a fore part, a heel part, a hinge connecting such parts, the fore-part member of such hinge being so constructed as to be readily detachable from said fore part when the last is in a shoe, and means on the fore part cooperating with such hinge member.

7. In a shoe-making device, the combination of a fore part and heel part, and means comprising jointed parts for detachably con necting said fore part and said heel part, said jointed parts being constructed to be entirely detached from one of said last parts, when the last is in the shoe, and devices on the fore part to cooperate with said means.

8. A shoe-making device, comprisingafore part, and two heel parts, adapted to be combined therewith, one at a time, one of said heel parts having an anvil-heel seat, and the other having none, and means for detachably connecting said fore part with either of said heel parts.

9. A hinged last, constructed for performing the operations necessary for making a shoe, and comprising a fore part, a heel part provided with hinge members, and connec tions between the fore part and the fore-part hinge member, that admit of the separation of the fore part and such hinge member when the last is in the shoe.

1(). A last constructed for performing the operations necessary for making a shoe, and comprising a fore part and heel part, a movable connection for said parts consisting of two members, each of said members being connected with one of said last parts, and means for detachably connecting one of said last parts with its said member while thelast is in the shoe.

11. A jointed last, comprising a fore part, a heel part, a connection between such parts, and a lockable and detachable fastening between said connection and one of said parts, and means whereby said fastening is unlocked by the collapse of the last.

12. A jointed last, comprising a fore part, a heel part, a connection between such parts, a lockable and detachable fastening between said connection and one of said parts, and means whereby said detachable fastening may be unlocked or not, at will, by the collapse of the last.

13. A jointed last, or other shoe-form, comprising a fore part, a heel part, and a jointed connection between the same, said connection comprising two parts and means for detachably attaching said connection to one of said last parts, said means being detachable by a movement of the heel part in a direction out of the shoe.

14. Ahinged last, or other shoe-form, comprising a fore part, a heel part, a hinge, means for connecting said hinge to said heel part and means for detachably connecting said hinge to said fore part, said means being detachable by a movement of the heel part away from the sole.

15. A jointed last, comprising a fore part and a heel part, a joint connecting said parts, means for detachablylocking one of said last parts to said joint, and means for locking said joint in open position, said last-mentioned means being so constructed that when completely unlocked, it will, by the collapsing of the last, unlock said first-mentioned means.

16. A hinged last, comprising a fore part and a heel part, a hinge connecting said parts, means for detachabl-y locking one of said last parts to said hinge, and means for locking said hinge in open position, said last-mentioned means being so constructed that when completely unlocked, it will, by the collapsing of the last, unlock said first-mentioned means.

17. A hinged last, comprisinga fore part, a heel part, a hinge, means whereby said fore part and hinge may be detachably connected, and means for locking said hinge in open po sition, said last-mentioned means being so constructed to lie wholly back of the rear face of the fore part when the last is collapsed.

l8. Ajointedlast, or other shoe-form, comprising a fore part, a heel part, a jointed connection between the same, a lock for locking such connection in open position, means for removably attaching said connection to one of said last parts, and a latch for securing said connection in attached position, saidlatch being releasable by said lock in collapsing said last. I

19. A hinged last, or other shoe-form, comprising a fore part, a heel part, headed projec' tions secured to one of said parts, and a connection secured to the other of said parts and adapted to detachabl y engage said headed projections.

.20. A hinged last, or other shoe-form, com

prising a fore part, a heel part, a hinge, and

headed projections secured in the rear face of said fore part, said hinge having a plate that is provided with notches projecting toward the sole of the last and adapted to engage said projections.

21. A hinged last, or other shoe-form, comprising a fore part, a heel part, a hinge, and headed projections secured in the rear face of said fore part, said hinge having a plate that is provided with notches projecting toward the sole of the last and adapted to engage said projections, and a spring-bolt adapted to engage said plate and hold the latterin engagement with said projections.

22. A hinged last, comprising a fore part, a heel part, a hinge connecting such parts, and apart hinged to one of said last parts and adapted to bear against the opposite last part,

to prevent collapse of the last, said last-mentioned part being adapted to swing toward the 1 tioned part being adapted to swing toward the sole of the last, when it is desired to collapse center of the hinge when it is desired to 001- the last.

lapse the last. In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 23. A hinged last comprising a fore part, a have hereunto set my hand.

heel part, a joint connecting such parts, and EDWIN J. PRINDLE.

a part hinged to one of said last parts, and Witnesses:

adapted to bear against the opposite last part J OHN L. FLETCHER,

to prevent collapse of the last, said last-menl JOSEPHINE L. LAWLoR. 

